(There is a tiny bit of JoeyxYuugi, but not enough for me to put in the summary. Besides, FFnet wouldn't let me.)

This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic and, well, I was finally inspired with a plot. (I've been bending over backwards for weeks, throwing usless plots at myself, just to get a decent idea) This is just a look at what my full story is going to be like. If you like it then you should review, you know, and, if you don't, you should totally flame me.

I enjoy criticism. Haha.

Jealousy
Kir Sirin

One word couldn't just sum it all up. One word wasn't enough. It had to be phrased in dexterous words that spun a web-like embrace around his cold heart. It needed to be littered throughout this puzzle, in the cracks, throughout every doorway into another memory, it needed to be everywhere.

Because one word would just be too pathetic.

Yami narrowed his violet eyes and could feel the tips of his fingers press into his palm in a tight fist.

"Come on Yuug, let's get to class!" Joey called in front of Yuugi. He wrapped his thin arm around Yuugi's shoulders and pulled the boy underneath him.

Yami could feel his teeth grind themselves against each other harshly at the bright smile Joey offered his partner.

He could feel the rage burn through his veins as he felt Yuugi's cheeks turn hot and the edges of his soft lips lifted into a quiet smile.

"Okay Joey, I wouldn't want to make you late."

How dare he say such things! Yami turned his head sharply to the side so he wouldn't have to see Joey laugh.

"Not at all, Yuugi! Anything is worth spending time with you. I'd skip school completely if you came with me." Joey added softly, a small hue of auburn gracing his cheeks.

Yami felt his stomach twist into unbearable knots. Could Yuugi really not see the obviousness of Joey's words? He couldn't see how Joey would look at him? How he would grow quiet when Yuugi first enters the room? He couldn't see how much…

Joey cared for him?

Yami shut his eyes harshly and tightened his fists. It wasn't fair. Joey didn't deserve him. He didn't deserve someone so wonderfully beautiful, carefree; someone so pure.

But then, what made Yami think he did?

A hand shot swiftly into his spiked hair and a ragged sigh escaped his lips. When had this started? When did Yami's cold heart spark at the sound of Yuugi's voice? When did he begin to feel so complete when he was speaking with him and so empty when he was gone? When did, just the mere sight of Joey, make Yami completely, infuriatingly--

No.

His feelings could not be summed up in one single, pathetic, word such as that one. It was complicated, beautifully complex and diverse. It was something lurking in the bottom of his heart, in the place where darkness dwelled and everything was cast in a dim shadow.

"Hey Yuug, um…" Joey's soft voice caused Yami to shoot his narrowed eyes back at him.

What was he planning?

"Yes Joey?" Yuugi blinked. His sparkling voice sent a wave of serenity down Yami's form.

"Um…" Joey shifted in his desk, suddenly feeling awkward and open. "Would ya' mind, um, meeting me after school for a while? I gotta…Tell you something."

Yuugi smiled, not noticing the slight hunch in Joey's posture. "Of course, Joey! No problem."

Joey gave a soft smile and looked at his desk. His voice was soft and low when he said, "Thanks Yuugi…"

Yami wanted to scream. He wanted to take control right now and tear Joey down. He wanted to instantly reject him.

Yami wanted so furiously to see the surprise dawn on the blonde's face and for complete and utter disaster to follow his footsteps.

But, God, if Yuugi ever found out…

That was the only thing keeping Yami back, the only thing stopping every obstacle in his way.

Yuugi.

These were his friends. No matter what they did to Yami, Yuugi still loved them. He still wanted to be with them. He would be nothing without them.

And if Yami ever took that away, Yuugi would leave.

And that could never happen.

Yami had no choice but to smile and play along while, in the back of his mind, he knew that he would just disappear back into the puzzle, and Yuugi would be surrounded by these people.

People he loved.

Yami tried to be happy with it. He tried to be everything he knew he should be, but everything was just too hard.

And, as the school bell rang, Yami wanted to shut his eyes and disappear forever.

Because now it was just about to get worse.

Yuugi's entire world was filled with people. He had everything. He was never alone. He was always loved. Yami only had Yuugi. He was the only thing he had and now…

Now that was all about to change.

After today, Yami knew he could never think of Yuugi this way. He could never imagine them together, could never graze his hand across his skin and think of Yuugi, could never hear his voice in the same way…

He couldn't love Yuugi anymore.

This feeling burning his insides would just destroy him. He couldn't still love Yuugi and yet see him with someone else, someone like Joey, and just be fine with it.

He either had to lose Yuugi or lose himself.

He could never lose Yuugi.

Never.

Yuugi and Joey walked to the back of the school, a heavy silence spilling between them. Yami watched as, suddenly, Joey walked in front of Yuugi and placed his hands on the shorter boy's shoulders.

Yami felt his shoulder's fall numbly as if a sudden weight crushed down on his back.

"Yuugi, I…" Joey started slowly. He blushed fully and quickly looked at his shoes. "Yuug… We've been best friends for a long time…And…And well…I can't just let this…Be anymore. I gotta tell you…"

"Joey, what--"

But Yuugi's lips were connected with Joey's. The blonde's eyes were closed tightly and his arms wrapped around Yuugi's frame, pulling him closer.

Yami felt his lips burn at the contact. He shut his eyes and bit viciously on his tongue so he wouldn't scream. His entire world started to fall.

Yuugi…

Yuugi stiffened when he heard the pharaoh's soft voice coo in the back of his mind. He sounded so forlorn…So heartbroken.

Yuugi pressed his palms into Joey's chest and pushed him back. "J-Joey…" The blush was heavy on his cheeks but not from the kiss, it flourished because Yuugi knew what he was about to say next.

The words terrified him.

"I… I…" Yuugi stammered. He could feel another heart somewhere inside him ache deeply. He closed his eyes, feeling foreign tears sting the back of his violet eyes, and Joey suddenly panicked.

"Yuug, I-I'm so sorry! I didn't know why I did that! I--"

Yuugi started to shake his head, a sob slicing through his throat. Where were these tears coming from? They didn't feel like his.

"Yuugi…" Yami said softly. "Why are you crying?" His heart throbbed painfully against his rib cage and caused a dull sound to radiate from it. Why was his beloved crying?

"I don't know…" Yuugi answered.

"Don't know what, Yuug?" Joey swallowed loudly, oblivious to the war raging inside Yuugi's mind. "Did I…?"

"You should be happy." Yami told him in a quiet voice strained with thin melancholy. "He loves you."

"I know, I just…" Yuugi shook his head and rubbed his moist eyes. "I don't… I-I mean, I can't…"

"Yuug…" Joey pushed a tear falling from Yuugi's eyelashes up with his thumb. "I'm sorry. You don't have to say anything else." His heart shuddered at his own words.

"No Joey, don't." Yuugi's voice cracked. "It's not you, I just… I, maybe, kind of love…Someone else."

"Oh." Joey smiled through the dagger buried into his heart. "That's great Yuug, who is it?" He secretly wished for Yuugi not to answer him. Joey wouldn't be able to take it.

Yami blinked. He loved someone else? Meaning there was someone else Yami had to lose to? Who was this person? Why didn't he see the signs?

Who could Yuugi possibly love? How could I have…Missed it?

"It's you…" Yuugi whispered softly under his breath. "Yami… My other self… It's you."

Joey and Yami both straightened out and gave a few hard blinks before one of them spoke.

"The pharaoh?" Joey asked almost in shock. "But you two… You can't… Well…" He rubbed the back of his neck, sweat falling down the side of his face. "I-I guess you could… Um… Wow, Yuug."

"Yuugi…" Yami breathed. "But… We can never be… You and I share the same body. I can never… Be there for you." As the words fell from his mouth, Yami felt them turn into lead and fall through the ground.

Everyone else could.

Everyone else could comfort him, laugh with him, hug him… Kiss him.

But not Yami.

Never Yami.

He could feel his own body want to collapse on itself. The walls of the puzzle started to swirl into darkness. He needed to escape.

Yuugi's mind started to grow light, foreign tears coursed down his cheeks, and his legs started to bend. He swayed and fell into Joey's surprised arms.

"Yuugi?" Joey lifted Yugi's still face into the light. "Yuugi!"

Yami fell to his knees and started to shake violently as that pathetic word swam inside his mind. It played in loops until it was madness inside his head.

Jealousy.

Jealousy.

Jealousy.

Yami could never have what even the wind has. He could never feel Yuugi near him, beside him. He could never feel his skin blush underneath his. He could never see Yuugi smile at him or feel that soft flesh connect with his.

Someone else would always have that.

"Yuugi…" Yami felt a violent shake ravage his spine. People like Joey and Teá, even villains like Raphael could have Yuugi, but not him. The one person he had in this empty life with hollow memories he could not touch. He could not see.

He could not love.

Yami flinched when he felt something gentle fall on his shaking shoulder. He looked up and violet met violet.

"Y-Yuugi?" Yami swallowed. The sight before him was beautiful and he couldn't even believe it was true. "What are you…?"

"I… I don't know…" Yuugi admitted, looking down at his hands sheepishly. "I just… Wanted to see you so badly and then everything just started to…Disappear. And now I'm here." He smiled brilliantly at the man before him.

Yuugi was here…

Yuugi was…

Yami shot to his feet and wrapped his arms tightly around Yuugi, never thinking of letting go. "Yuugi…" He breathed softly. "Is this real?"

It wouldn't even matter if it wasn't. For the first time in his life, Yami finally got to feel the person he wanted. He finally had him. He tightened his hold and breathed in the thick scent of fallen rain that emanated from Yuugi. It smelled like the aftermath of a huge storm. It was warm, comforting, and secure.

"I-I sure hope so…" Yuugi blushed deeply at the sudden contact his partner was giving him. He slowly placed his arms around Yami's back and buried his nose into the pharaoh's shoulder. "I don't want to wake up if it isn't."

"Neither do I." Yami whispered, his voice unable to do anything else. The warmth Yuugi filled him with was unreal. His heart beat faster than he had ever remembered and his entire world was filled with Yuugi's scent.

With great reluctance, Yami released Yuugi and stared into the violet eyes before him. They were so much like his, and yet completely different. They held another world, another heart, another person.

They held him.

"Yuugi I…" He lightly trailed the side of Yuugi's jaw with the tip of his index finger, the soft action making Yuugi close his eyes and breathe a sigh. Yami drank in the sight. Suddenly nothing was enough. They were too far away, there was too much separating them.

Yami, in one swift motion, closed the damming space and connected their lips. He watched as Yuugi jumped and his cheeks turned scarlet beneath his thick eyelashes.

You're so beautiful… He wished to say. Yami ran a hand through Yuugi's thick hair and succumbed to the emotion burning through his veins. You're wonderful. No one deserves you. You're perfect.

I love you.

Yami felt his heart inflate at the words. Had he ever said them before? He pressed deeper into the kiss and shuddered when a cool hand fell on the side of his hot neck.

I love you.

How he wished to speak those words now, but he could never break this contact, this promise. He stopped his tongue from grazing Yuugi's lips, wanting to keep this as pure as he possibly could with his dark heart.

Yuugi pressed their chests tighter against each other and took a deep breath as they parted.

"I love you," fell a whisper.

A smile and then the sunlight fell into Yuugi's eyes. He blinked it out and Joey's face clouded his vision.

"Yuug! You're all right!"

Yuugi stood up on his own feet and vaguely wondered how Joey became so good at pretending he was fine when inside he was breaking down. He gave a soft smile and looked around him.

They were still at school, Yuugi was still in control, but something was different.

Something was very different.

As he and Joey walked back home, Yuugi started to laugh out loud. It spilled from his lips like liquid gold and a sudden wave of happiness overwhelmed him.

And, in the back of his mind, Yami smiled.

Jealousy was not apart of his vocabulary.